Now, understand that when I left on this trip, I had every intention of doing the whole tourist thing – stopping at the state lines, important points along the way, and so forth, to the point that I even packed the tripod for our camera so that I could take pictures of myself at the state lines, important points along the way, and so forth.

I didn’t realize how much I would miss my wife and daughter.

Now, I know that a big tough former Marine such as myself should be a big old independent cuss, able to stand on his own two feet, not need anyone’s help for anything, yada yada yada, but I stand before you a changed man.

As I recently told a friend, “…the whole self-sufficiency thing can get in the way sometimes…” – and I have finally had the lesson come home to roost.

So – I shot most of the pictures through the windshield of the rental car. Besides, day two was spent in the rain until I was in Texas. No way I was gonna get out, set up a tripod, take my picture in the rain, take down the tripod, repack it, and then continue on the way. I didn’t have that many changes of clothes.

You’ve already seen the picture of Denver International Airport. The next trip photo is of Tampa, as seen from the causeway driving from Clearwater: This was on Tuesday afternoon, as I headed out.
Mile marker 56 on I-275 nothbound:
Fair warning: you are going to see a lot of these.
Mile 317 on I-75 northbound: I took most of these every hour or seventy miles, whichever came first. I also learned a lot about the camera – like when it’s dark outside, the pictures don’t come out nearly as well. I experimented with the settings a bit, but nothing spectacular happened.
Mile 383 I-75 northbound:

Then I thought, “How goofy do I look driving?”Answered that one, didn’t I?
Once I gunned through Gainesville and hooked west, I felt like I was making some progress: (Mile 281 I-10 westbound)Still, it was getting dark, and time to start thinking about how long I wanted to drive.
Mile 211 I-10 westbound, just outside Tallahassee: You can see what I mean by the pictures not turning out at night. Since it was about 1830, I figured I would just stop for a bite and push on for a while. Then I saw the light had been left on for me, so instead I got a room at the Motel 6. I did grab a bite to eat, but I ate it in my room, watched a little bit of TV, and then sacked out.

Miles traveled: about 250.

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